Chapter 670 This is another price!
Today, given Lin Weimin's status and fame in the domestic literary world, the form of work seminar has no meaning to him.
Therefore, in recent years, Lin Weimin's works have never done anything like this.
But for most writers, it is still necessary to hold work seminars, at least it can increase the popularity and influence of their works.
It has been four or five months since the publication of the first half of "The Last Hun". Now a seminar on the work has finally been held, which can be regarded as the fulfillment of Gao Jianqun's wish.
In the period after its publication, the reputation of "The Last Hun" has gradually fermented, and it has sparked great discussion in the domestic literary circles and readers. It has been praised by many as "another masterpiece exported by Shaanxi literary world to the contemporary literary world after "Ordinary World" and "White Deer Plain"."
With a good reputation and no particularly controversial points, the seminar for "The Last Hun" was a scene of great prosperity, unity and harmony.
It is customary to have a reception after the seminar.
There are quite a few writers from Shaanxi here today. In addition to Gao Jianqun’s reputation, another big factor is the Guowen Publishing House.
Recently, Jia Pingwa's Wasted City has been selected into the Buhuhu series and has been very popular in the domestic book market. This is a living example.
Everyone still remembers that last year, the Guowen Publishing House held a seminar on novel writing, and Lin Weimin confidently invited Jia Pingwa, and as a result, his work sold well this year.
This is a bit weird!
Jia Pingwa happened to be present at today's seminar, attracting a lot of people's attention and almost stealing the limelight from Gao Jianqun.
In addition to attending the symposium on Gao Jianqun's works, his main purpose of coming to Yenching this time was for the book signing event.
The first three novels in the Rag Tiger Series have been on the market for a month and have achieved astonishing sales. Taking advantage of such a hot momentum, Guowen Publishing House will naturally continue its efforts.
A book signing event was immediately arranged this month, and not just in the city of Yanjing.
You should visit Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
At the banquet in the evening, Lin Weimin smiled and asked Han Xiaohui: "Reporter Han, how do you feel about attending the seminar on "The Last Hun" today?"
Han Xiaohui smiled and praised "The Last Hun" and its author Gao Jianqun, saying that a sedan chair is carried by everyone.
Lin Weimin said, "Then you have to do more publicity for these 'Eastern Expedition Tiger Generals' of Shaanxi literary world."
He Zhenbang laughed and said, "Weimin, you really care about these writers in Shaanxi!"
Han Xiaohui said: "Editor-in-Chief Lin should love you and your family. I remember that Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" and Cheng Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" were published when you were in charge of "Contemporary", right?"
Lin Weimin was delighted that Han Xiaohui had touched his weak spot, but his expression remained calm.
"It's all coincidence. I have a deep connection with Shaanxi writers."
He sighed and counted them carefully: "Lu Yao, Cheng Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa, Gao Jianqun, hey, if I count them, they are almost catching up with the Five Tiger Generals."
He Qizhi continued, "Counting Jingfu's "Eight Li Love and Hate", isn't it the Five Tiger Generals?"
Lin Weimin waved his hand and said, "'Ba Li Love and Hate' hasn't been released yet, so it doesn't count."
"'Ba Li Qing Hou' is of good quality, and there is absolutely no problem putting it here."
The two of them sang in unison, which immediately aroused the interest of everyone present.
Everyone could hear that the two were obviously discussing the quality and influence of their works. The first four works they mentioned have already been published or released.
In particular, the three works that have been published, "Ordinary World", "White Deer Plain" and "Wasted City", are the leaders in China's contemporary literary world in terms of both sales and influence.
"The Last Hun" has now been published in two parts, and the quality is equally good. If Jing Fu's "Bali Love and Revenge" is really as Lin Weimin and He Qizhi talked about, this may really be a good story in the Chinese literary world.
"Hahaha! The idea of 'Shaanxi literary world's five tiger generals' is great. Shaanxi really has many talented people!" He Zhenbang said loudly.
Han Xiaohui also said: "We have a title for the article we will return with. It will be called "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition"."
Lin Weimin raised a glass of wine cheerfully, "Reporter Han, this title is a good one, it should be made clear!"
Everyone raised their glasses together.
Two days later, an article titled "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" was published on the front page of Guangming Daily.
"In 1988, Lu Yao shocked the Chinese literary world with his three-volume, one-million-word novel The Ordinary World. In 1990, Cheng Zhongshi spent six years honing his skills and brought The White Deer Plain to the Chinese literary world.
Three years later, whether it was a coincidence or for some other reason, the works of several powerful writers in the Shaanxi literary world gathered in Yanjing at this time in the spring of 1993.
Jia Pingwa's "Abandoned City", Gao Jianqun's "The Last Hun", Jing Fu's "Bali Love and Revenge". These three novels are said to be more important than the previous ones, and they all have the ambition to win the Yanbing Literature Award, the highest award for Chinese novel creation.
Coincidentally, these five works were all published by the National Literature Publishing House.
This time, the masterpieces of three Shaanxi writers landed in Yanjing, shaking up the Yanjing literary world and were called "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" by the capital's critics.
Lu Yao, Cheng Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa, Gao Jianqun, Jing Fu and the other five people are therefore called the 'Five Tiger Generals of Shaanxi Literature'..."
The article "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" is not long, with only less than 2,000 words. It first puts forward the two concepts of "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" and "Five Tiger Generals of Shaanxi Literature", and then focuses on introducing several novels such as "Wasted City", "The Last Hun" and "Bali Love and Hatred" and the inside stories of their creation.
Because it was published in Guangming Daily, a national media, and it was the headline of the second page, "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" immediately caused a huge response in the Yenching literary circle after its publication.
A few days later, the Literary Gazette also followed up with related reports.
Then, local media from all over the country reported on the incident one after another, especially many newspapers in SX Province, which spared no effort in reporting on the public opinion frenzy caused by their people in Yanjing.
In the spring of 1993, with the hot sales of Wasted City, the cultural concept of "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" appeared in the Chinese literary world for the first time.
In just less than half a month, the concepts of "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" and "Five Tiger Generals of Shaanxi Literary Circle" not only resounded throughout the Chinese literary world, but also became a topic of discussion among countless domestic literature lovers.
Amid this wave of large-scale media coverage, Guowen Publishing House took the opportunity to publish Gao Jianqun's "The Last Hun", with an initial print run of 100,000 copies, which were sold out in less than a week.
"Bali Love and Hate", published in the fifth issue of "Contemporary", also gained readers' attention because of this wave of popularity. The novel itself is of good quality and has received rave reviews after its publication, making this issue of "Contemporary" the first sales peak this year, successfully exceeding 2 million copies.
As the reputation of the "Five Tiger Generals" continued to spread, many readers were also curious about Jing Fu's "Bali Love and Hate". Many people wrote to urge Guowen Publishing House to publish it as soon as possible, prompting "Bali Love and Hate" to be put on the agenda for publication less than half a month after its publication.
Lin Weimin, who made all this possible, has reached the peak of his reputation in Shaanxi literary circles in recent times.
From Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" to Jing Fu's "Bali Love and Hate", several powerful writers from Shaanxi have been able to shock the country time and time again over the years, which is inseparable from Lin Weimin, the behind-the-scenes promoter.
After returning to Xi'an, Gao Jianqun, Jia Pingwa and others repeatedly told others about Lin Weimin's unremitting promotion and support for Shaanxi writers, and regarded him as a mentor.
By mid-May, the publicity, review and publication of the Ragdoll series had gradually gotten on track, and Lin Weimin's work could finally be a little easier.
After get off work that evening, he took the 16-member editorial team out for a meal before returning home.
After returning home and playing with Xiao Doubao for a while, the phone at home rang.
Lin Weimin picked up the phone, listened to a few words from the other end, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Congratulations! You have made history for Chinese films!"
After saying a few words, he hung up the phone.
Tao Huimin held the little bean bun and asked, "Who's calling?"
"Cheng Kaige, just returned from Cannes, where Farewell My Concubine won the Palme d'Or."
Tao Huimin exclaimed in surprise: "Oh! The Palme d'Or!"
She looked at her husband with strange eyes, "Why don't you react at all?"
What should be the expected reaction? "I'm not a director, nor a screenwriter, nor an actor. What is there to be happy about?"
Tao Huimin was stunned for a moment, and it seemed to make some sense.
Lin Weimin chuckled at this time, "But we should be happy! If we win the award, the movie will definitely sell well and we can make a lot of money."
Knowing that he was teasing her again, Tao Huimin hit him twice in annoyance.
The next day, the news that "Farewell My Concubine" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival unsurprisingly made the front pages of many domestic media outlets.
As the second director after Zhang Yimou to win the highest honors at the three major European international film festivals, Cheng Kaige's name has been successfully written into Chinese film history.
"Farewell My Concubine", a movie adapted from Lin Weimin's novel, has also attracted the attention of countless people.
The novel has already sold several million copies in China and has a strong readership base. The film adaptation won the highest award at an international film festival, furthering its reputation.
For Lin Weimin, the most direct benefit of the film winning the award is that the sales of the novel "Farewell My Concubine" have seen another wave of "small spring" upward curve.
The National Theatre of China also specially took out the drama "Farewell My Concubine" which had been in the box for several years, and is now re-staging it, aiming to have it performed in July.
A few days later, Cheng Kaige and his team returned home with honors, and were busy participating in various interviews and activities.
The fact that he preferred to cancel his contract with Berlin in 1987 and attend the Cannes Film Festival was enough to show how deeply Cheng Kaige attached to the Cannes Film Festival. This time, he successfully won the Palme d'Or and was very proud and in high spirits.
"Director Cheng seems a little bit overconfident!"
At the celebration banquet, Han Zhuangzhuang drank a glass of champagne and said to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin glanced at him and said, "Why do you care whether he is arrogant or not? Just act well in your role. If you say bad things about the director behind his back, I can't protect you!"
"Uncle, you are such a joker. There are still directors in our country who you can't protect."
"How old are you? Do you still need my protection? I finally went to Cannes, but you didn't even come back with an award for Best Actor!"
Han Zhuangzhuang yelled in dissatisfaction: "You are playing the role of Best Actor just for fun, you can just take it if you want? We signed up for two male leads and the votes are too split!"
Lin Weimin looked playful, "How many votes did you get from the judges?"
Han Zhuangzhuang's eyes were uncertain. "How would I know? How the judges judge is a secret."
Of course the jury has inside information, but that is for the audience who don't know the truth. For the group of people who go to the film festival, if they ask carefully, they can find out most of the inside information.
For example, Lin Weimin knew that Leslie Cheung missed the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival by just one vote.
There were rumors later that a female judge was so immersed in the drama that she always believed that Leslie Cheung should compete for Best Actress, so she cast her vote for "Best Actress" Leslie Cheung without hesitation.
This statement is very popular in later generations. After all, it adds to the legendary color of "Farewell My Concubine" and Leslie Cheung.
But if you think about it carefully, it's ridiculous. You like "Farewell My Concubine" and Leslie Cheung so much, why don't you vote for him and let him win the Best Actor award, but instead you want to get the Best Actress award which is destined not to be won?
The truth of the matter is that "Farewell My Concubine" had already won the highest honor, the Palme d'Or, at the time, and the jury directed this good show with the idea of dividing the pork.
You can tell from the results of that year's awards that, except for the Best Director and Best Actor awards which went to the same movie "Naked", the rest of the awards were equally won.
The most ridiculous thing is that the Best Director award was not given to Cheng Kaige, the director of the Palme d'Or "Farewell My Concubine", nor to Vin Wenders, the director of the Grand Jury Prize "A World Away". They didn't even give it to Hou Hsiao-hsien, the director of the Jury Prize "A Pedestrian Life".
While the uncle and nephew were talking, Xu Feng came over with a glass of champagne. Lin Weimin stood up and laughed. They exchanged a few words of joy. Xu Feng said, "Mr. Lin, this film's Palme d'Or win was made possible by your great help. But now that it's in theaters..."
Xu Feng stopped talking midway, but Lin Weimin immediately understood what she meant.
Previously, "Farewell My Concubine" did not qualify for screening because the plot involved buzzing. It was only with the coordination of Lin Weimin and the consent of Teng Jinxian, director of the Film Bureau, that it was allowed to participate in the Cannes Film Festival.
What do you mean? You want me to help you with the formalities for the release?
Madam, this is another price!
(End of this chapter)
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